WARDHANNAPET,
DEC. 23.
When eighty-year-old J Komuramma of Chennaram village complained to her son of failing eyesight, he expressed his inability to get her treated. As the agriculture season dashed his hopes, he turned a construction labourer to sustain his family.

Komuramma was resigned to her fate until the sub-inspector, M Durgaiah, approached with offer of medical help. He arranged transport and took her to the doctor where she was promised free surgery and spectacles, a long-standing dream of Komuramma.

Boon for villagers

For scores of Komuramma's fellow villagers, the massive eye camp organised by the Mamnoor police circle came as a boon. About 1,000 elderly people from surrounding mandals of Hasanparthy, Atmakur, Sangem, Geesukonda, Station Ghanpur and Dharmasagar -- some deserted by their children, others deprived of support from family members and still others not able to afford to go to a hospital -- made a beeline to the camp. They all showered praise on the policemen who assisted the aged, driving them to the camp, distributing medicines, serving them food and so on.

Even senior officers joined the lower cadre in this. Medicines costing over Rs 1.20 lakhs were distributed besides free surgery to the needy at private and Government hospitals. The camp was a big success, thanks to the non-voluntary organisations which extended men, material and machinery to the camp. The Indian Medical Association, Lions Club of Orugallu, Regional Eye Hospital, Medicare, Sharat Eye Clinic, District Blindness Control Society and Sindhuja multi-speciality Hospital and others contributed their share.

Relieved from the anti-extremist duties, the police in the district have taken several such social service programmes --building libraries, organising vocation training programmes for the youth, laying roads, distribution of sports kits and conduct of medical camps. The DSP (Rural), M Ravindranath Babu, and the CI, Chadrasekhar Avadhani, said their aim was only to help the deprived and less privileged and to convey the message that the police were always with the people.